12 comments:

Hi! Love your farm! And all your animals. I plan on getting a breed of sheep. And I'm partial to how cute they look to me. I love your two sheep pics above. I know you've written about the breed(s) you have, but could you tell me about the ones in your post here? I love the black-faced sheep. Plus, I'm pure fiber, not meat, so that's another thing I'm looking for. Thanks! Jilljf45atymaildotcom

Beautiful photos! We have the same pretty but dangerous icy coating here on the CT coast - the trees are like sparkly diamonds in the sunlight, but it's seriously slippery. I outfitted my gang with stretchy snap-on cleats (yaktrax is one brand), making the icy packed snow navigable.

I only have to worry about picking my way through the ice to feed my neighborhood birds and some chubby squirrels (as well as a house full of hungry teens). I can't imagine feeding 230 head of sheep plus chickens plus the donkeys down in Donkeyland!

P.S. I followed your advice and started using parchment paper for all of my cookie and scone baking - the results are fantastic, and what a time saver. I'm able to use the same sheet for most batches so I don't feel too profligate!

What lovely pictures! The animals seem so happy, and I've always loved your farm. I always wanted to live on some land like yours. Thanks for sharing the winter picture's with us. You take great pictures.

Jill,When it comes to sheep, we definitely do cute well around here - at least I think so. ;)

The yearling lamb in the second photo is a Suffolk/Katahdin cross. Suffolk is a meat breed with black faces and black legs and very coarse wool, which is usually used for things like blankets. Katahdins are a meat breed hair sheep that don't need to be sheared. You can read more about how and why we added Katahdins to our flock a few years ago here.

The big brown guy in the top photo is *ahem* one of my several friendly pet wethers, kept because I have a soft spot for the black sheep, whose wool fades to brown in the sun.

When I bought my original mixed breed flock back in 1995, the plan was to raise colored wool sheep, and for the first few years I bred all the ewes to a black Border Leicester ram with nice long wool. All of my ewes except for the Katahdins are still related to the original flock, which is where the black ones like this guy come from.

Leslie,Ha! Joe's sister said the exact same thing last week. That is the sweetest compliment. :)

Julia G,Yikes - we don't have anywhere near 230 sheep. Thank goodness. Catering to the 55 we currently have is plenty. ;)

So glad to hear that baking with unbleached parchment paper is working out so well for you. I, too, love that you can usually reuse each sheet several times.

Sue,Thanks for the kind words about my photography. I think Mother Nature was mostly responsible for that first photo, though. Sometimes she makes it so easy. :)

December 2015 update: Hi! For some reason I can't figure out, Blogger hasn't been letting me leave comments on my own blog (!) for the last several months, so I've been unable to respond to your comments and questions. My apologies for any inconvenience! You're always welcome to email me: farmgirlfare AT gmail DOT com.

Hi! Thanks for visiting Farmgirl Fare and taking the time to write. While I'm not always able to reply to every comment, I receive and enjoy reading them all.

Your feedback is greatly appreciated, and I especially love hearing about your experiences with my recipes. Comments on older posts are always welcome!

Please note that I moderate comments, so if I'm away from the computer it may be a while before yours appears.

I try my best to answer all questions, though sometimes it takes me a few days. And sometimes, I'm sorry to say, they fall through the cracks, and for that I sincerely apologize.

I look forward to hearing from you and hope you enjoy your e-visits to our farm!